Nature always has a way... Even this far and close to the worldwound, Nature finds a way to prevail. Calendir stares in quiet contemplation at the flock of birds.

I should roll also for Lagash right?

1d20+5

Maybe he should be main character and I his companion :D

LOL maybe your character just needs a good pair of glasses :P

Lagash growls instinctively when he realizes the predatory nature of the "birds." Through your link to him, you realize the same thing. Make either a Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (arcana) check Calendir.

The higher DC in this case comes from a combination of distance to target (over 200 meters), type of creature, and poor light conditions.

After staring at the flock for a moment, you realize that it is not in fact a flock, but more of a wing. A wing of gargoyles that is. From this distance, you cannot make much more than that (i.e. variant species, etc.), but judging from their (relatively) slow movement, it seems that they are far from their home perch. Fortunately, the gargoyles (7 in number) do not notice your boat as it passes slowly up the river.

A rising growl softens in Ruul's throat as the wing of gargoyles passes uneventfully overhead.

"That was close", he says with a glance at Lavinia.

I'm assuming Ruul's fur and natural fortitude is enough to endure the cold. If not, he'll prep and run and Endure Elements.

At this point, I think your going to be fine. I would guess that you would be susceptible to cold much like a cat or thick-haired dog. You'll likely be fine down to around 20C before you'll need additional protection.

"I'm glad that they didn't seem to notice us this time. I wonder if the air over the river is part of a regular route for them?" Feeling a cold wind blow in from the north, Lavinia snuggles against Ruul for warmth.

The mage armor and False life that Elen cast on herself, and the mage armor cast on Ruul, will have worn off around the beginning of second watch. Updating stats to reflect this. Also, adjusted inventory as discussed in the discussion thread.

Ally snaps her fingers as she remembers that Elen purchased a spyglass for herself recently. In a matter of minutes, she has descended to their cabin, and retrieved the spyglass, which looks as large as a greatclub in her tiny arms. "Oof! Alright, so here's this. If someone can hold it steady for me, I can look through it, or anyone else who'd like to can use it."

Still within 1st watch. The rules for spyglass are that it halves perception penalties due to distance for sight-based checks. How would you like to handle this, LM? This is still during first watch. Ally will keep the Spyglass out for use of anyone watching, including Macavity, Livinia, or Ruul.

Calendir stood staring at the flying creatures, one hand holding his bow, and the other resting on top of Lagash's head to calm the animal somewhat.

From his top side watch point, he comments to the others also on watch - If we didn't knew that already, now we can be sure of our fast approach to hostile lands. Things are bound to get ugly, maybe sooner than we would expect.

Macavity draws his composite longbow and looks for as many places on the boat to provide cover for archers and casters as possible. "Those aren't birds. Does anyone know what they are?

After five minutes without an answer, Macavity will call out to the multitudes on 1st watch, "Excuse me, but do any of you learned experts know what those flying things are? They look like they are hunting and may return. It would be great if we knew if they had any special attacks, defenses, or vulnerabilities. If we don't know, we should find out before you go to sleep."

perception on 2nd watch = 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26 + other stuff
How many places on the boat can provide cover for archers and casters?

"I think they are gargoyles -- like the ones Niles mentioned. Here, take a look through this spyglass."

If an attack comes during the second watch, Ally will grab her wands ftom the holsters she has strapped to her thighs, cast Shield on herself, then send a really strong sense of urgency down her empathic connection with Elen.

"I think they are gargoyles -- like the ones Niles mentioned. Here, take a look through this spyglass."

Macavity smiles to ameliorate is aggravation and repeats his questions after counting to ten, in order to eliminate any aggravation in his voice. "What are gargoyles? Do they have any special attacks, defenses, or vulnerabilities? We should be prepared as possible for their attack.

Ally snaps her fingers as she remembers that Elen purchased a spyglass for herself recently. In a matter of minutes, she has descended to their cabin, and retrieved the spyglass, which looks as large as a greatclub in her tiny arms. "Oof! Alright, so here's this. If someone can hold it steady for me, I can look through it, or anyone else who'd like to can use it."

Still within 1st watch. The rules for spyglass are that it halves perception penalties due to distance for sight-based checks. How would you like to handle this, LM? This is still during first watch. Ally will keep the Spyglass out for use of anyone watching, including Macavity, Livinia, or Ruul.

[dice=Perception for 2nd watch]1d20+10

With the spyglass, you are able to get a slightly better view than before (remember this is right on the cusp of darkness). From what you can see, the gargoyles are not pretending to ignore you, they are mostly focusing on land-based targets (which appear to be few and far between, given their flight pattern)

"I don't know a lot about them, but as you can see they can fly. Also, they have sharp claws and teeth, and look like stone statues come to life. They are common in big cities where there are many large, magnificent buildings where stone statues wouldn't be out of place, and they hide by pretending to be exactly that. I'm afraid I don't know much more about them than that."

She turns to look at Lavinia, thinking that the scholarly woman would possibly know more.

Macavity draws his composite longbow and looks for as many places on the boat to provide cover for archers and casters as possible. "Those aren't birds. Does anyone know what they are?

After five minutes without an answer, Macavity will call out to the multitudes on 1st watch, "Excuse me, but do any of you learned experts know what those flying things are? They look like they are hunting and may return. It would be great if we knew if they had any special attacks, defenses, or vulnerabilities. If we don't know, we should find out before you go to sleep."

perception on 2nd watch = 1d20 +15 + other stuff
How many places on the boat can provide cover for archers and casters?

Duly noted for the check. As for hidey spots, there are not many on the top deck. There is the main mast that you can either hide behind, or get into the crow's nest (currently not occupied), inside the pilothouse, and you could scrunch down behind the side rail for partial cover (total cover for the first two options)

"I think they are gargoyles -- like the ones Niles mentioned. Here, take a look through this spyglass."

If an attack comes during the second watch, Ally will grab her wands ftom the holsters she has strapped to her thighs, cast Shield on herself, then send a really strong sense of urgency down her empathic connection with Elen.

I'm not yet very clear on how long each watch is - 2/3 hours? - in any case, Calendir does not (yet) have a means to reduce the time slept, so he is asleep on 2nd and 3rd watches. He sleeps topside though, nestled in an out of sight nook. Do I need a stealth roll? If so I'll take 20 :D

According to the CRB, monstrous humanoids would require knowledge (nature), but LM asked for religion or arcana, so you made the necessary roll. I got a 24 which would be enough to know what they are and 2 things about them, for which I picked their attacks and that they tend to hide as statutes. Your roll of 35 will allow you to know 4 things about them. I'd look them up in the PRD and pick two things, to keep things moving forward.

My logic in the roll was that, yes by RAW it's nature, but given their almost iconic role in both religion and magic, I went with that instead.

Gargoyles:

Gargoyles are well known throughout most major religions as winged creatures who are resistant to magic (DR 10/magic to be exact). They attack with claws, bite, and horns (gore) typically, allowing their ability to fly and hover to keep them out of the hands of most enemies. Their intelligence is not particularly high (Int = 6), but are able to sometime outtrick other prey, especially when working as a team. Their most unique ability, however, is to be able to completely blend in with rocky or stony terrain, In fact, when holding still, it is nearly impossible to find a gargoyle in a rocky terrain.

Soon after the sighting of the gargoyles, then return to normal,with no other aerial appearances in the night sky. A couple of hours later, the second watch comes on, and one of the sailors takes over from the Captain in the pilothouse. In the entire exchange, Captain Teach gave no indication that he worried over the flight. Up through the first hour, there is little noise, other than the boat moving down the river. Even the noisy gnome has stopped her mewling, and it seems that everyone will finally get some sleep.

As I warned at the beginning of this, digital maps have been my one weakness and it's going to show up here. I have had no luck finding a boat to use on maptools to draw out for combat, and I am still not experienced enough to draw one from scratch. I can tell you the dimensions of the boat if any of you have the knack to draw up a combat map. The boat itself is 80' long, 25' wide. The top deck is a one-mast with pilothouse at the fore. The second deck (passengers) consists of 5 10'x10' rooms on either side for passengers (two per room), on cabin on either side for the sailors, and a personal, 10'x25' cabin for Teach. Ceiling height on this deck is 8'. There is a 10' shaft for cargo and horses, with a winch to haul up/down items (including the horses). The lowest deck has a ceiling of 10' and is dedicated to cargo and horses. There are no ship weapons on this boat.

"I don't know a lot about them, but as you can see they can fly. Also, they have sharp claws and teeth, and look like stone statues come to life. They are common in big cities where there are many large, magnificent buildings where stone statues wouldn't be out of place, and they hide by pretending to be exactly that. I'm afraid I don't know much more about them than that."

She turns to look at Lavinia, thinking that the scholarly woman would possibly know more.

Lavinia turns towards Ally. "Well, from what I can recall, Gargoyles are winged creatures who are resistant to magic. They attack with claws, bite, and horns typically, allowing their ability to fly and hover to keep them out of the hands of most enemies. Their intelligence is not particularly high. Their most unique ability, however, is to be able to completely blend in with rocky or stony terrain, In fact, when holding still, it is nearly impossible to find a gargoyle in a rocky terrain. Now, all this is only what I've gotten out of books and from talking to other people. I've never actually seen any firsthand before."